Finding Fitness: A top-notch three-step workout

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another edition of “Finding Fitness.” This week I am going to give you a couple more body weight or even-weighted exercises to add to your arsenal.

As always, make sure you are working out in a safe space and listening to your body throughout each movement. If something feels wrong, stop immediately and re-evaluate how you are doing the movement.

As we sit here in the summer, we all want to look and feel our best. The heat usually brings the desire to sit at the pool, park, or participate in some kind of outdoor activity. Having a strong and capable body is only going to make those activities that much easier and enjoyable.

To begin the routine, I like to start with the larger muscle groups.

A great hamstring exercise is a movement called the “Good Morning.” Start by standing straight up with your feet shoulder-width apart. While bending your knees slightly, start hinging at your waist and lean forward as far as you can without losing balance or bending your knees.

Feeling the tension in the back of your thighs (hamstrings), return to upright position. You should hit four sets of 8-10 reps. Feel free to add some weight with a household object or even a barbell.

Next in the routine, we will move to a bicep exercise.

For this movement, look for two things with similar weight or get a set of resistance bands I’ve referenced in previous articles. The movement is called hammer curls. This is because you hold the weight like a hammer.

Keep your hands in neutral position and bring the weight up to your shoulder. You should feel the tension in your bicep, then release. Your arms should reciprocate, which means go one at a time. Aim for four sets of 8-10 reps on each side.

Finally, we will finish out with a shoulder workout.

My favorite dumbbell shoulder exercise is the Arnold press. Start by grabbing two items with similar weight and curl them up so your forearms are in front of your face with your biceps parallel with the ground.

Next, bring your arms out and push up while bringing your forearms out so they face away from you. As you are doing this, press the weight straight up and then reverse the movement, bringing the weight back down so your forearms face your face as well. Aim for four sets of 8-10.

If you ever get confused about how to do a movement, YouTube is a great resource. Jeff Nippard is an amazing trainer and has most movement guides available for free on his channel. 

That wraps up this week’s “Finding Fitness.” I hope that you feel confident and capable to add some new movements into your workouts. If you are looking for extra workout motivation, please feel free to follow my Instagram (@evouzumaki) and don’t be afraid to message me. I am always willing to help.

Have a great week everyone and never give up!